Aunt Gert’s Sweet Macaroni Salad

This sweet macaroni salad is guaranteed to be a family favorite with its sweet mayonnaise based dressing and addicting combination of textures. It’s rich and creamy but surprisingly simple to make and the perfect make ahead side for any picnic or party.

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I’m always a bit surprised when something so simple tastes this delicious.

This sweet macaroni salad is truly simple yet so delicious.

It features radiatore-shaped pasta chilled overnight in a surprisingly sweet mayonnaise-based sauce.

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Everyone loves this crowd pleasing side dish and will go back for seconds whenever you serve it.

And you’ll serve it often since its sort of an edible jack of all trades and is perfect for any picnic, potluck or barbecue all summer long.

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Ingredients

To make this you’ll need:

• Pasta– Radiatore, rotini, or macaroni. Cook it according to the directions on the pasta, drain it, and let it cool.
• Mayonnaise– Real, full fat mayonnaise and not mayonnaise style dressing or Miracle Whip.
• Onion– A medium onion chopped.
• Celery– Diced.
• Water– Cold.
• Sugar– Granulated.
• Vinegar– White vinegar.
• Garlic– Minced.

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How to Make

This sweet macaroni salad is so easy to make!

Just stir together the mayo, onion, celery, sugar, water, vinegar, and garlic in a large bowl until evenly combined.

Then add the pasta, stirring until evenly coated.

Tightly cover the bowl and refrigerate the macaroni salad overnight to let it thicken. 

Stir before serving.

Garnish with some chopped fresh parsley or extra diced celery, if desired, and serve.

Enjoy!

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Storing

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Stir before enjoying again.

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Tips and Tricks

• The macaroni salad will be very watery at first. It’s ok! The dressing will thicken up as it refrigerates.
• Make sure to stir it before you serve it. Stirring helps the dressing distribute evenly through the salad and thicken.
• Don’t make it the day you plan to serve it. This needs the time to sit in the fridge so the pasta can absorb the dressing.
• Cook the pasta to al dente. Overcooking the pasta will lead to mushy noodles.

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Other Macaroni Salad Recipes

Sweet macaroni salad is a tried and true, old-fashioned classic everyone loves.

Make it and enjoy!

Looking for other macaroni salad recipes?

Try these:

• Grandma’s Classic Macaroni Salad
• Pimento Cheese Macaroni Salad
• Creamy Cajun Macaroni Salad

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If you’ve tried this SWEET MACARONI SALAD, or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!

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Aunt Gert's Sweet Macaroni Salad

This sweet macaroni salad is guaranteed to be a family favorite with its sweet mayonnaise based dressing and addicting combination of textures. It's rich and creamy but surprisingly simple to make and the perfect make ahead side for any picnic or party.

4 from 35 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Lunch, Pasta, Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Chilling Time: 8 hours hours

Total Time: 8 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 12

Calories: 466kcal

Author: Meaghan @ 4 Sons R Us

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Ingredients

For The Pasta Salad

• 1 lb radiatore pasta cooked, drained, and run under cold water until cooled (can substitute rotini or elbow noodles)
• 2 cups mayonnaise
• 1 medium yellow onion peeled & chopped
• 1 cup celery diced or very thinly sliced
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup cold water
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 2 tsp garlic minced

For The Garnish

• peeled & chopped hard-boiled egg optional
• chopped fresh parsley leaves optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• In a large bowl, combine mayo, onion, celery, sugar, water, vinegar, and garlic. Stir until evenly combined.
  2 cups mayonnaise, 1 medium yellow onion, 1 cup celery, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup cold water, 1/2 cup white vinegar, 2 tsp garlic
• Add pasta, stirring until evenly coated.
  1 lb radiatore pasta
• Refrigerate covered pasta overnight. Note that the pasta WILL be very soupy at first, but as it chills it will thicken and get creamy. Just re-stir to evenly coat.
• Garnish, if desired, serve, and enjoy!

Notes

• The macaroni salad will be very watery at first. It's ok! The dressing will thicken up as it refrigerates.
• Make sure to stir it before you serve it. Stirring helps the dressing distribute evenly through the salad and thicken.
• Don't make it the day you plan to serve it. This needs the time to sit in the fridge so the pasta can absorb the dressing and so that the flavors build and blend.
• Cook the pasta to al dente. Overcooking the pasta will lead to mushy noodles.

Nutrition

Calories: 466kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 17g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 248mg | Potassium: 130mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 62IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 1mg

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